Odysseus

Nestor amuses me every time. Every. Time. His speech is actually important to many academics for Reasons, but I cut most of it BECAUSE we don’t have time for that.

Talthybius, the messenger dude. KEEPS. SHOWING. UP. One of the problems of reading and writing as I go and not planning anything means I don’t actually know who is going to be important. Like, BTW, there are two Sarpedon’s and I was like: “Make sure you don’t mix up the Sarpedon’s Naomi,” AND I’M PRETTY SURE I DID ANYWAY.

Um. Anyway.

Thoas and Eurypylus will probably die so I hope you are not attached. I tried not to make them too remarkable. I don’t really know why they pop up here with our other main characters *shrugs* But who knows?

And, same as last week, we will be skipping over Monday and the next post will be Wednesday. I am hoping, hoping, hoping, I can make some sort of progress, but with Christmas Season on its way (yay for retail) I honestly Can Not Make Promises because I will probably break them. I also have a short wedding celebration trip in October, sooooooo…. Not a lot of extra time *cries* BUT OH WELL.

I do think there is a clear message here that in war there is no winner. Sarpedon doesn’t win. Tlepolemos doesn’t win. Each time two people face off it only leads to death on both sides.

I feel like the two Ajaxes are just off in the corner going, “Um? Guys? A little help over here? Maybe? …. Uh…. Anyone?”

And seriously, don’t mess with Odysseus. He will cut you. That being said, I regret how I wrote it and wish I had said: “Soon seven Lycians were slain” or even the ridiculous “Soon Lycians seven were slain.” Oh well.

Um. Yeah. So. I just realized Sarpedon doesn’t have a spear stuck in his leg in the frame where his friends are idiots (how could you miss the giant spear stuck in your friends leg? HOW?) so just imagine it is poking out away from the audience so it’s there you just can’t see it. That totally works yes.

I think Pelagon has a nose? It was supposed to be a tear but look like a nose. DON’T TELL ANYONE SHHHH. No noses allowed.

Ares is so proud.

I CAN’T BELIEVE I GOT THIS READY IN TIME. I’m going to my sister’s this weekend (last weekend for you) so I worked like crazy today to clean two rooms and prepare for two days away AND for when family comes over on Sunday. I didn’t vacuum like I wanted to… but comics are more important. Right? Right.

I love how Homer wraps up this mini story about Simoeisius inside of this great epic about war and rage. The image of this young dead boy as this rotting tree trunk is visually engaging and I wish I could paint better, because I would paint this scene.

The idea of death begetting more death and how revenge only results in more pain and more grief comes out so clearly in this mini Odysseus moment.

On a less serious note: when Apollo is shouting at the Trojans all I could imagine was that scene from the Princess Bride when the guy at the gate keeps shouting: “Stand your ground, men! Stand your ground!” Which was fairly distracting while I was drawing that panel. I had to re-draw Apollo because it was so bad the first time.

I was not expecting Eris to have the presence that She does, but it’s appropriate, and I have a feeling She’s going to continue to pop up unexpectedly.

AND that’s it for Book 4. We will have a recap on Friday of what all happened in Book 4 and then we shall continue on to Book 5 on Sunday. Book 5 is centered on Diomedes. I have drafted the script for Parts 1.1 and 1.2. ALSO, Aeneas is going to show up, FINALLY.

ALSO, I drew Diomedes with a little bit of scruff to show that time has past, because I feel like so much time has gone by with people just staring at each other or being dramatic.

Sthenelus looks a lot like how I drew Macbeth back when I was teaching. Whoops.

Also, also: yes. I have a ridiculous love of Alliteration that borders on the absurd. Shhh…

In the second to last panel you will see Terror and Panic. Panic actually showed up riding a horse in one of the previous posts. If you can find him you will prove that you have way too much time on your hands. Haha… Ahem. Sorry. One day I will actually have prizes of some sort that I will award you. I’ll be working on that this month *fingers crossed*

ANYWAYS. Next week will be “First Blood” and everything gets serious for awhile. If there is humour it will be rather macabre. BUT ALSO DIOMODES is going to be starring in most of Book 5 & 6, so we can all look forward to that.

I love how everyone is convinced Paris is going to lose the duel *cry-laughs*

My text says that Odysseus was thoughtful right in the middle of sacrifice-time and duel-time and doesn’t say why. Honestly, who knows with that man. He could be thinking about a speech, or some sort of plot, or dreaming about french fries. I know I would be.

Polydamas shows up (he’s in the panel with Diomedes). I’ve only drawn him sitting down and I kind of regret having him stand. I feel like he just always lounges around everywhere.

In the last panel Odin shows up. He really needs to be wearing a fabulous wizard hat, but I wanted one of his ravens to be sitting on top of his head (yes, that is a raven *ahem*). For those of you who don’t know, Odin sacrificed his eye in order to gain wisdom/knowledge. He is not actually in The Iliad, but when I imagined Zeus complaining about the burden of knowing things (which he was born with and didn’t need to sacrifice body parts for) Odin just popped up being all, “Really?” and I knew I had to sneak him in here. Mwahahahaha…

Next time we will actually be able to get to the dueling part. SPOILERS, Paris doesn’t die.

You can definitely see the #problemsofclass happening here. Thersites, we are told, is this ugly, misshapen, horrible person. And yet… He says something that is very similar to what Achilles said. He points out the problems of Agamemnon. However, because he is of a lower class he is not allowed to and, indeed, is punished for it. You could try to make the argument that Odysseus, by punishing Thersites himself, is saving him from a worse punishment by Agamemnon, and maybe this is true, but I’m not entirely convinced of it. I think it is more likely that class distinctions were a huge deal. Odysseus is the king of Ithaca, Achilles the king of Pthia, so they get to speak out against kings. Thersites? Not so much.

Poor guy. He never shows up again (as far as I’m aware) so we never really know what happens to him. He’s played his part to remind the audience that there is this hierarchy that exists between kings and commoners, a hierarchy that should not be messed with or shame will happen.

I am not sure if I will have a post up this Sunday because of room but… We shall see.

If you enjoy Odysseus and Homer re-tellings GUESS WHAT? There is a collection of short stories coming out 17 October 2017 called A Sea of Sorrow. I’m excited for it. Feel free to check it out. I know one of the authors, and she’s pretty awesome. She’s also written books about Helen that I highly recommend.

Yes, I am making fun of Odysseus… HOWEVER, I will say that I like Odysseus more in The Iliad than in The Odyssey.

Also, poor Patroclus. Gotta’ give that dude props. He is a good friend and puts up with a whole lot of Achilles’ nonsense.

Join us next week for the last of book one *GASP!* Yes, we will finish book one next Wednesday *faints from shock*. I am not sure of a title yes, but it will be something like: Hera Never Pries or something like that. There will also be more of Thetis, mwahaha.

No one ever listens to the smart people in epics. NO ONE. (It’s just as bad in Song of Roland, if memory serves correctly.)

Also, poor Phoenix is having an identity crisis.

NOTE: You probably are wondering who the Myrmidons are. Or. Maybe you aren’t. BUT IF YOU ARE: The Myrmidons were a group of warriors from Thessaly, in Greece. According to legend Zeus took a colony of ants and zapped them into a group of warrior-men (myrmex is the Greek word for ant). I’m not really sure why Zeus did this, but I’m sure it amused him.